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Defense spending isn't about missiles, it's about jobs and ultimately Red state welfare.

You'll find plenty of blue states dependent on military industrial complex spending as well.

Yes, but I don't think it's right to entirely ignore the point. Why are Mississipi and Alabama so high in the federal defense spending budget? [1] Each are spending more than $3k per capita, compared to the US average of $1772.

I guess we can disagree on which states benefit most from the program, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that essentially it is a program that is used to bribe senators and representatives through job spending. It doesn't have a lot to do with what is actually strategically sensible.

[1] https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/...

My guess is that because states like Alabama have just as many senators as states like California, the ROI is many times higher in states like alabama than the relative jobs created in much larger states.

Defense industries tend to need lots of room, water, energy, and nearby military bases for testing and logistics.

The southeast has cheap land, lots of rainfall, low living costs, and mild winters for year-round operation. Which is also why so many military bases were built there.

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